-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Nanci Griffith wanted to look on the bright side .

Nanci Griffith , who says she 's `` fed up with negativity , '' was revitalized by the election of Barack Obama .

And who could blame her ? In the past decade , Griffith -- perhaps best known for her Grammy-winning 1993 album , `` Other Voices , Other Rooms '' -- had faced a political climate she did n't agree with , as well as recovery from thyroid and breast cancer , which she was diagnosed with in the late '90s .

Songwriting had become a struggle for the singer with the gentle , crystalline voice .

`` It was ... horrific , '' she said simply .

However , with her latest album , `` The Loving Kind '' -LRB- Rounder -RRB- , Griffith is as focused and passionate as she has been in years . Sparked by the changes in her life and American politics , she said , music has been vital to her personal resurgence .

`` It was nice to focus on things outside of my body . Music has always done that for me , '' she said .

Describing herself as someone who was `` fed up with negativity , '' Griffith was equally inspired by her fellow countrymen .

'' -LSB- The -RSB- American people will not let this country collapse , '' she said .

The idea motivated her to look at her country 's dark path of injustice not so long ago , stories that worked their way into her songwriting .

`` In some ways , I 'm just a journalist . I -LSB- want -RSB- my audience to hear these stories , '' she said .

CNN spoke with Griffith from her home in Nashville , Tennessee .

CNN : Being a folk singer and your views being what they are , was it tougher or maybe easier to write songs from 2000 to 2008 ?

Nanci Griffith : It was very difficult for me . I was hurt by the direction my country was going in . And then , after -LSB- the 2008 election -RSB- , everything came spilling out . Things came along like the Mildred and Richard Loving case -LRB- `` The Loving Kind '' -RRB- , where Mildred died , and I read her obituary . -LSB- The Lovings were a couple whose interracial marriage was against the law in Virginia at the time . -RSB- That was such an inspiration . ... Just wondering why I never knew about this and how important that case is currently with equality in marriage . Little things . Bit by bit , my heart started to open up again , and I could write !

CNN : Had you ever gone through that before ?

Griffith : No , never in my life . I 've always been a very prolific writer .

CNN : Now , what about writing in the age of Obama ?

Griffith : -LRB- laughs -RRB- It feels great ! People may be down on their luck , financially . But I see so much optimism about the direction of the country and -LSB- general -RSB- openness .

CNN : Now , in addition to `` The Loving Kind , '' there are other songs based on actual events on this record . Tell me about `` Not Innocent Enough . ''

Griffith : That 's based on Philip Workman 's case in Memphis -LSB- Tennessee -RSB- . He was robbing a Wendy 's -- was a heroin addict -- and police came in , and an officer was killed . Now , Workman did n't kill him ; it was friendly fire . Workman was convicted anyway and executed . I 'm a total abolitionist when it comes to the death penalty , but this case really stunned me , because I feel like this country has evolved enough to where we should n't have to live with the death penalty .

CNN : Is it hard as a writer/musician to inhabit those songs , knowing that they are actual events ?

Griffith : Not really . I feel like , in some ways , I 'm just a journalist . I do n't express my opinion -LSB- in the songs -RSB- , necessarily . But it 's important to me that my audience hear these stories . I want as many people to know about Loving v. Virginia as possible .

CNN : Do you feel like it 's a more palatable way to become aware of a story like that when a song is attached to it ?

Griffith : I do . I 've been informed many times through music . Pete Seeger , Odetta , Dave Van Ronk , Bruce Springsteen ... so many folk songwriters . It 's all around you .

CNN : The song `` Still Life '' -- I suspect that 's about President George W. Bush ?

Griffith : It 's about people like him . This country is full of them , and especially my home state of Texas . It 's a -LSB- perspective on -RSB- people who go through life getting away with everything .

CNN : Do you feel a sense of vindication with President Obama 's election , or at least a sense that things are moving in a direction you 're in favor of ?

Griffith : I hope so . Right now , he is my hero . So is his wife .

CNN : What in your past steered you into a topical songwriter ?

Griffith : I was always more interested in story songs , things with a point of view ... and things that informed me .

CNN : Is there a different process of writing those topical songs versus a song like `` Up Against the Rain , '' which is clearly more personal ?

Griffith : There is a burden to writing -LSB- those topical songs -RSB- : You better have your facts straight . When you 're writing a personal song like `` Rain , '' it 's straight from your heart and seems to just flow .

CNN : `` Sing '' seems like it would fit that description . Does that song sum up your life in a way ?

Griffith : Many have asked that , but I was actually inspired to write that by watching an interview with Shania Twain where she said it would not have mattered if she remained a lounge act for her whole career . It 's not something you choose . It 's just what you do .

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Nanci Griffith 's new album is `` The Loving Kind ''

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Grammy-winning singer with crystalline voice had long dry stretch in ' 00s

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Election of Obama , better health has her in upbeat mood